Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

The current software version is v1.22, which adds support for DSD128 and requires a new DSP board. Units having these latest updates from the factory should also have the power supply changes (which had an earlier availability) as well as the recent OCC fuse bypasses which make another significant improvement in the DAC's performance.

Just to clarify, the revisions noted in my post above are in reference to the Bricasti M1 DAC.

Thanks Bill. I am pretty much 100% positive the M1 I am getting in is the latest greatest kool aid.

Speaker hunt is progressing.

I need to pull all the damn wall to wall carpet I put in (I'm a dumb ass) and replace it with a faux-wood vinyl floor. The room is too damn warm. I think my love seat may be an issue as well, but I'm going to replace the floor ASAP. Then I can decide about the couch.

Current speakers I'm auditioning and will be in my room concurrently to directly compare:
- Vienna Acoustics - Der Muzik
- Hansen - Prince E
- Boenicke W8SE+
- Lawrence - Double Bass
- Marten - Coltrane Tenor

Fun fun fun!!!!

Matt, since we are taking statement Loudspeapers, let's not forget: LumenWite Silverflame

Not cheap at £25K retail though

http://lumenwhite.com/silverflame_d_uk.html

" poland´s www.highfidelity.pl, one of europe`s most active high end audio webzines grants lumen white`s muenich high end 2015 show exhibit their "best sound of high end 2015" award.
=====================================================
german high end magazine "hoererlebnis" features a detailed review of the"silver flame" monitors in their december 2007 issue, concluding:

"the lumen white silver flame monitor`s sonic superiority set them instantly apart from all other loudspeakers we know and let them win the hearts of all those, who love music."

key quotes from the review:

"the sound of the lumen white has a captivating, unbelievable ease, purity and airiness.

the music appears instantaneously, as if out of nowhere, in the listening room, free from any kind of colorations and cabinet resonances".

this quality caused instant fascination when the first lumen white speakers appeared years ago and here is the same fascination again. it also may be one of the reasons for the unprecedented success, which the brand has garnered around the globe."

"in smaller listening rooms, the speakers, while significantly smaller in size, deliver low frequency extension close to that of the few significantly bigger loudspeakers in the world which are able to reproduce the lowest of the bass registers with wall shaking realism."

"their capacity to recreate the musical event in a realistic and holographic way in the listening room may indeed represent the very edge of the art at the limits of audio technology"

"their sound breathes true life, offering musical realism of a magnitude which in fact may prove impossible to surpass."

"one could literally "see" the violin player silently nodding her head in the direction of the pianist"

"the silver flames achieve perfect musical homogeneity and do so without any softening of precision or glossing over of fine detail.

details down to the most subtle spacial clue are presented, are present without sticking out, are reproduced as fully integrated parts of the whole gestalt."

"wherein lies the key to the exceptional and unsurpassed transparency, realism, and ease of the lumen white`s`sound?

is it their use of an identical membrane material over the whole frequency band? is it a result of the unique cabinet design with its "damping free" technology? and, what role does their elegantly simple, but uncompomisingly fine, crossover play in this context?

while we are not able to solve this mystery, what we know for certain is that the lumen white silver flame`s sonic superiority set them instantaneously apart from all other loudspeakers we know and let them win the hearts of all those, who love music."
====================================

http://www.hifinews.co.uk/news/article/lumen-white-silver-flame-pound;25000/7582

So why did the review give only a Sound Quality of 89% ????

Thanks Wisnon. I'll look into it.

I am, very interestingly, beginning to feel that although everyone tells me my room is "medium" sized, that I would get the best sound out of a much smaller speaker. Because it is a basement room with concrete floors, solid wood door and double sheetrock with visco-elastic glue and fully insulated walls and ceiling, the room pressurized very easily with no give - like being inside a Vault.

Part of my listening comparison is to determine which is better for my room: a larger multi driver speaker (like my Der Muzik or your suggested LumenWhite Silverflame) or a smaller fewer driver design like the Hansen Prince E, Coltrane Tenor or the downright petite Boenicke W8 or essential satellite sub system that is the Perfect8 Cube.

I seam to find that because my room is only 18.5' long I am having a hard time getting the speakers properly out into the room without me being pushed pretty close to the back wall; which is an issue because that's where the boom in the room is at its worst. It appears that rear ported speakers sound more boomy then front or bottom ported speakers, or sealed designs.

My gut is telling me that I will end up with something smaller then my Muzik's to suit the room best. I'm thinking Coltrane Tenor, Kharma Exquisite Galileo, Perfect8 Cube, Boenicke W8, etc. I think the mid size Schweikert VS-55, Vandy 7, LumenWhite Silver, Muzik, etc are going to prove themselves to be too much for my room.

Let's see.

Matt

Go down to John at Audio Connection in Verona NJ and listen to his Vandy Sevens and then deciide if they are to much for your room. His room is about that same size and they sound great there. It will be the best decison you every made to make the trip and buy the Sevens you won't be dissapointed.

Matt, I see what you mean. I once had a looong chat with a Swiss selling only high end manufacturer called ROWEN. They make enormously powwerful amps and innovative speakers with a 5 octave band dRiver and a hf DRIVER CALLED LMT - which is somewhat similar of the Heil tweeter. Look em up at www.rowen.ch

The 90 min long conversation informed me of how much they hated bass reflex technology and how they designed for Swiss homes that are vault-like with poured concrete being the default building material, as compared to wood and dry wall in the US. Plus Swiss homes are much smaller on average, so ideal speaker placement is more difficuult. This means they designed their speakers to work in sub-optimal locations and demonstrated this to me in the show room by putting obstacle around the speakers that normally would mess of the stero image. in their case, it made little to no difference in the "real world" speaker placements they showed. Impressive.

Lumen White have the Artisan and the Aquila as well. They are pioneers in the use of ceramic drivers, and have won best in show at CES in the past and at other places too. Their turntable is to die for as well - The Mystere $60K.
Check em out as well.

Too warm as in sonically or physically? If it's sonically maybe you ought to consider all the room treatments first..Then you can back in what improves things..

Actually, Erik, both. My room is too hot as well. I had to buy a super quiet fan that I kick on when I'm between songs. It's actually a bit on an issue.

But I meant sonically. Everyone I have spoken with (including 4 acousticians and people who make a living doing dedicated rooms) says that the carpet was an obvious mistake. It's absorbing the magic between 3k and 7k and leaving the room sounding warm because it's taking the highs that balance things out. It makes sense. I need a solid floor and a small area rug.

Regarding the treatments, I have pulled every absorber out of the room except the corner base traps. It helped. But I need the corner traps as the room has nodal issues that the traps help a lot.

And it looks ike I'm heading down to Audio connection tomorrow. Would love to meet any of you who are in the area.

Can anyone provide a list of speakers with the following characteristics:

1st order crossover
Time and phase aligned
Either sealed enclosure or front or bottom ported. Not rear ported.
Shorter then about 55", not more then about 20" deep.
Reference or statement product

I have a mental list. But I'm curious to see if I'm missing any.

I'm not necessarily using this as a be-all end-all requirement but it's a category to look at......

Only a couple come to mind that are true time and phase aligned. Matt, I am searching the net to see a good list. I came across this posting about this subject. Not sure if it means anything other than how a speaker will sound off axis. Personally I have my position and don't really listen off axis, lol...I'm sure that's just me though.

"As for the companies you mention -- Magico, Vivid Audio, and Rockport Technologies -- none makes speakers that are time- and phase-accurate, even if the sloped front baffles of the Vivid and Rockport models look as if they might be. In all cases, they use higher-order crossovers to greatly reduce driver overlap, which have more phase shift " I like the Rockports I've heard. I"m just not a Magico guy (sorry). Heard Vivid once, but not enough to really say one way or the other. I know I don't like the older Thiel's and have no idea what they are making now days with the new company.

Looks like a company has to make their own speakers to get this right due to the overlap of frequencies. Off the shelf or even modified won't work based on some articles I've been reading up on. I"m sure someone here will have other ideas. This has become my favorite go to thread for learning and some of you have changed my mind greatly.

On another note, I have heard the whole Vandy line yesterday and the Wilson, Dynaudio gear (upper end stuff) the day before. All on Ayre Reference 20's. Those amps are possibly the best I've ever heard and yes I've heard many of the esoteric lines out there. I can't do Wilson's still. No emotion for me or layering. Very accurate though. I liked the Dynaudio a bit. Something was missing for me though and I can't even tell you what.

Back to Matt's question, but wanted to share.

Matt, for a checklist of manufacturers of time coherent speakers (which also implies phase coherence) see this post, and the response in the second post following it. Many of those mentioned will not meet your other criteria, however.

Note: "GMA" = Green Mountain Audio.

Regards,
-- Al

Wow what a thread, lol. So much disinformation being put out at times based on what some top designers have said. Some do get it though. No design is the be all end all, however those of us who listen to a speaker with these parameters will usually enjoy all the ones who do it well (i.e. make/design their own speakers and use TOP grade components in the overlapping xovers etc..). No it's not easy and it's expensive to do. I think that's why many designers don't go this route. For some of us, we don't care what others say about a component. We may listen and go hear something based on what is said or reviewed, however if you trust your own hearing, you will be fine no matter what you decide to get. I know Matt enough to know he does know what he's listening to, but like everyone, the more we hear the more we appreciate the difference between good and great. Ton's of good out there, but not a lot of great I don't think.

Matt

I am not aware of many except Vandersteen that meet that list of criteria. I think you are thinking in the right direction of the technologies etc that you should be evaluating. I also think there is no substitue for being able to tune the bass to your room and them place the speakrs where the imaging and soundstage are the best. BTW your new room looks great and I love the Burmester gear you have selected. IMHO a speaker must look like a piece of it blends into a home not belongs in a studio somewhere. To be able to place the speaker in a appealing location in the room that images the best and looks the best and then not need to totally fill your room with lots of room treatment is a huge plus. I was at a dealer recently that built a new sound room and there were 71 pieces of room treatment in the room. When I asked about it they said that is what it took to get there World Class speaker to sound there best. Not many of our spouses will allow that in our houses and fewer yet can afford that much room treatment.

Jeff

Yup. I think the Vandy 7 is It in that regard. That's what I thought.

I listenend to the Vandy 7 yesterday with Pete and John at Audio Connection. What I learned was 2 important things:

1) John is a very nice guy with an extensive fund of knowledge.
2) Getting together with audio friends I have made from the forums doesn't happen frequently enough and it's always fun and a good time. Thanks for initiating that Pete!

I'll keep all updated on my progress.

I have a small but strong list of front runners. I am also considering alternative options in the form of monitors with subs as needed. I have some great stuff coming in to help me learn which way to go. Varied and very different designs.

I was impressed by the technical prowess of the Vandy 7 and the low frequency extension was literally like nothing k have ever heard before. I failed to connect with them at the showroom to be honest. I would elect to bring my Veritas amps and use a tubed Audio Research pre-amp if/when I go back. I told John I will call him in a month. He was very nice and not pushy at all......

Matt if the room is that hot why not just pipe some AC in there if your room is in the basement it should'nt be a big deal?

Priorities, my dear Erik. First I must focus on getting it to sound good. I must not allow myself to be distracted by such an unimportant thing as comfort when proper acoustics are still unsorted. :)

Seriously though, the fan is pretty effective and practically silent. It's one if those tall thin turbine type and moves a lot of air with very little noise. Eventually I'll address it head on, but it would either require I run hvac from the main system or put in a separate silent unit (which I don't really have a good place for). If I link into the main system I have no isolated control for that room. For now, I'm satisfied with the fan.

Matt, what about the Dyson bladeless fans?

Now I see why you fear tube gear...too hot for the musical dungeon? LoL

We are in total agreement about meeting audio buddies. So much fun...at least 50% of the joy in this hobby.

Dyson fan was actually louder then the one I bought. Picture this:

Middle of Bed, Bath and Beyond with people staring at me. Shut off all the fans first to listen to which was quietest, then eventually pulled the one I bought and the Dyson out and found the quietest spot in the store with outlets accessible. Pulled out my trusty spl meter and fan both fans at high, medium and low. The Dyson was louder and more importantly, louder at a higher frequency so way more audible. The one I bought was quieter at all 3 speeds and its tone was much lower and thus easier to mask with normal music playing. I almost bought both to do frequency sweeps on them at home, but I realized how insane that truly was....

And, the Dyson doesn't move nearly the air that the other turbine type do. So it was moving more air, at a lower frequency and more quietly. So I bought it.

It's certainly not silent, but on low speed with music playing at reasonable volumes I can't hear it. Of course, it's killing my noise floor. But until I figure out an AC solution it's fine. Especially for $65- compared to the Dyson at like $300-

06-14-15: Mattnshilp
Can anyone provide a list of speakers with the following characteristics:

1st order crossover
Time and phase aligned
Either sealed enclosure or front or bottom ported. Not rear ported.
Shorter then about 55", not more then about 20" deep.
Reference or statement product

I have a mental list. But I'm curious to see if I'm missing any.

I'm not necessarily using this as a be-all end-all requirement but it's a category to look at......

Matt, do you hear things from those design elements that appeal to your ears? I do and have gravitated to speakers with 1st order x-overs along with time and phase alignment and transmission lines (meadowlark...RIP...along with Dale Pitcher's speakers;;;including Essence, Intuitive Design, and now Mosaic). Guido, I also a fan of GMA.

The monitor/sub thing may be the shizzle in your room....I like that idea too. What monitors are you considering.....

Agear, I respect a man who can use 'shizzle' in a sentence!

I'm in new territory with top tier monitors. I liked the Perfect8 Cubes quite a bit. I looked at the Kiss from Vienna - it's basically the top mid/tweeter section of my Muzik with one 9" woofer. And although I don't like any of the others, I do think the Raidho D1 is a good monitor.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Matt, Raidho speakers tend to like largish rooms, and lots of space behind them... They can be challanging to set up... overexhuberant mid bass is not unheard of.

G.

Matt, that was a blast meeting up. I do wish you were there in the later part of the day. You'll hear what they really can do when when Johnny has time to get them up and running with your gear and warmed up. Hopefully we can get Richfield up there too. Great grinder/pizza shop down the street too, lol. This should be an interesting search that is transpiring.

Matt,

Thanks for the fan story...nice read and I have to agree with the conclusion.

For monitors, why not try a Vapor UberAurora as discussed here:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=133774.0

Their use of RAAL tweets on most models seems to be the Shizzle (sine AGear opened that door...LoL) and in the Uber, they use Beryllium tweets.

Vapor design thoughts here:
http://audioshark.org/vapor-audio-190/ask-ryan-7690.html#post132351

Matt, the term "shizzle" is underutilized on Audiogon due to the demographics at hand, but I think we should always be open to expanding our audio vernacular....:)

I don't have any real current data on monitors. For many years, I used Intuitive Design Gamma Summits which were a time aligned, transmission line monitor that weighed around 90 lbs. It had its own dedicated stands and incorporated stillpoints throughout. It went down to around 30 hz which was nice.

The tricky part is sub integration. It takes skills that I do not possess.

The Art from Trenner & Friedl is intriguing.

I would still much prefer a full range floor stander. My goal
Is to get my room right.

Floor is getting changed out next week now. When it's done I'm going to add back my floor standing treatments one by one to see how it effects things.

I think that in the end a HelmHotz will fix my issue. But it's costly, to say the least.

Matt

You are so right in getting the room right. As you know the Sevens can be dialed in to take care of most room issues. I also wanted to mention to take a look at the Synergistic Research family of room treatment products. Some of them seem far out there. I can assure you the ART System FEQ and HFT's are no joke. Are barely noticeable in your room and in my high end system are a game changer

Jeff

Yes, the Trenner&Freidl ART is lovely, as is their ISIS floorstander, but maybe would be too big for Matt's room. I think the Pharoah is a tad smaller.

Andreas Friedl is a nice guy as well who I keep running into at European shows.

For real Cachet value and a truly INERT enclosure: Try Fischer und Fischer...see write up here:
http://theaudiotraveler.com/2014/11/22/high-end-swiss-2014-fischer-fischer-speakers-and-mudra-akustics/

http://www.fischer-fischer.de/start.html

Check out the SN/SL570 AMT,770.1 AMT and the SL1000.
The ones with the AMT are the ones to get and it seems the 770.1 is the new flagship that goes down to 24db and has max SPL of 115db. They weight 160kg each!!!

I agree Matt. A full range floor stander is the ticket.

As you are discovering, the room is tricky business. Despite your obvious intelligence and DIY proclivities, professional help may be $ well spent....

I've spent on professional help. A LOT!!!!

I have hired 2 professional engineers who have worked on the job. And payed 2 treatment companies additional fees for room calculations to advise on treatments. But none are local and one have come to see the room, measure it or listen.

To all out there reading who are not posting, and I know there are a lot of you (since we are at almost 700,000 views), if you are building a room PLEASE PM me so I can tell you what I have done wrong so you don't have to spend on what I did….

What you need is a professional LOCAL guy who can come over, measure & listen, make suggestions and then come over AGAIN & AGAIn to and measure & listen. Otherwise you have to pay for plane tickets and hotels and such….

I have done everything right in my room. I know I have, and I have been told I have by all of the people I have paid to help me up to this point. And yet I clearly have a node issue that can, I know, be fixed with the right "tricks"….

I know John from Audio Connection is a great resource, but he's not an engineer and his solution is going to be for me to buy a pair of Vandy Sevens so he can adjust the Sevens to avoid the problem. I haven't ruled that idea out, but id rather cure the disease then treat the symptoms. And I can always put an Accuphase parametric equalizer or other electronic room correction device into my system to do the same thing that the Vandy adjustments allow so it can be applied to any speaker system….

I will fix this, oh yes. And when I do my room will be amazing!

It will, dare I say it, be the Shizzle'ist of the Shizzle!

damn typos.

not "one have come to see the room."

NONE have come to see the room. All have advised based on measurements I took and measurements of the room. But none have sat in it and listened and taken their own measurements…

As my idol Dr. McCoy says all the time…. Dammit guys, I'm a doctor, not an audio engineer!!!!

I see Matt. Yes, a local guy would be most useful when you are fiddling with various room tuning devices. It has to be done in real time just like speaker set up.

I took a slightly different approach using engineering blue prints (based off of various calculations) where all the technology was inherent to the room structure and did not involve the usual external, piecemeal approach. I have no bass traps, diffusers, etc. It was a gamble but worked. More on that later.

Matt you are correct on trying to do room treatments via internet room measurements is risky at best. It seems like there should be someone available that has room measurement software that can actually map the room to figure out where the nodes are from a frequency perspective. This would be the best starting point since you could then move your speakers around and re-measure then add treatments. Do you have any audio clubs in the area? They are a great source of information and help.

As I mentioned some time ago room treatments should be additive and have a "do no harm" mantra. You can spend thousands chasing acoustics and may never totally resolve your issue. Take everything out of the room, work on getting your speakers sounding decent by trying various locations, then add treatments.

Matt, call me tomorrow if you can. I just spoke with Johnny and he wants to come over and help you get the room right before you start buying any other gear and that includes speakers. He feels badly for you and he won't ever bad mouth another company. He just won't do that, but I too feel you weren't taken care of. I have a lot more to share with you. hang in there and this will get corrected soon and it shouldn't have to cost you that much more. NO PROCESSORS! lol.....I know some folks loves these, however there are many reasons they aren't good for most speakers/systems.

Goose. I had one of the engineers give me a very detailed node diagram. The problem is that becauseof my rooms measurements the optimal place for me to sit it 7'10" from my rear wall. Which, with an 18' long room, puts me 10'2" from my front wall. If I then put my speakers 3-4' out into the room I am essentially wearing them as headphones.

Second best is 7' from the rear wall. Essentially the same issue.

Here's my plan:

When the flooring is being changed, all my corner traps must be removed. All I will have left in the room will be wall and ceiling diffusers and a few Vicoustics Wavewoods which are combo diffusion/absorption. After the floor change I have several people coming over with speakers for me to audition. I will take advantage of their abilities and let them help me to pick the best speaker and seat location and put the corner traps and other floor standing treatments slowly to get the best result. If I still can't tame my issues with all of that help and fund of knowledge, then I will have no choice but to pay someone to come in and measure and truly fix my issue however it needs to be fixed.

I am thinking that if I start from essentially scratch with the proper flooring and move everything around that I will fix 80-90% of my issues. I hope.

Matt sounds like a plan. I'm sure that you can get a satisfactory sound from the room. Those darn nodes are hard to fix and no room is perfect. All the best.

Interest information!

Why Multiple Subs?
I want to start my posts with a lengthy discussion on the use of multiple subs, first why they should be
used,  and then how they are setup.
First I think it a good idea to go over some history behind the concepts.  I will start by going all the way
back to my PhD thesis (30 years ago), which was on this precise topic.  At that time I was studying the LF
(low frequency) sampling statistics in small rooms and how these were affected by the rooms shape.  
This is important question in sound measurement because it tells us how many points (samples) we
need in  a reverberant room to find the true source sound power given that each point has variations of
the desired quantity due to the non‐diffuse nature of the sound field at LFs in small rooms.

http://gedlee.azurewebsites.net/Papers/multiple%20subs.pdf

What are your thoughts on speakers who integrate powered subs below 100hz so you can dial in the bass after you set the speakers up to sound their best for the mids on up? Personally, I've never heard separate subs integrate fully with monitors and I have always LOVED monitors. I personally have liked some of the speakers that integrate them and voice the amps to take on the sound of the main amps someone is using in their system.

Cstooner, did you ever try TBI subs?

No. If I were to do subs, I'd do the matching Vandy subs as they are set up to work properly with the Treo's. I hate to say it, but I've never heard a sub integrate properly. I know so many swear by their usage and I'm sure that there are plenty of you who have them set up perfectly. I've just yet to hear it. I also feel that the majority of dealers really don't know HOW to set up a room. I know that even the top dealers will often have problems setting up their rooms because folks come in all the time and touch stuff and actually move things. I've seen customers in a very high end boutique start to tip speakers to see their spikes or something. They don't realize that will throw off everything. Winson, please share more about the subs.

Very fast woofers

Jan Plummer knows his stuff.

http://tbisound.com/dsp_products_subwoofers.asp

http://tbisound.com/dsp_sound.asp

Now with TBI™ Bass Extension Modules you can match the speed of your mains precisely, with the room having a positive - supportive effect on the results. The driver is acoustically shielded from reflections allowing the room to support the bass in a positive way. Low frequency room treatments are typically unnecessary for a properly set-up TBI bass extension system.
The very low mass driver requires little diaphragm travel to produce long wavelength signals in this patent pending design. This combination of attributes provides a platform for fast launching of the low frequency waves. The hybrid alignment combines the best attributes of reflex and transmission line models and is the result of extensive research and development. The resulting products are setting a new precedent in objective bass quality and uniformity for high quality audio systems.
You will find a product compatibility chart at the bottom of each product page that will give you some guidance in choosing the right bass extension setup for your high quality audio system.
TBI and Vinyl

I was speaking with the guy at Von Schweikert who sets up their rooms at most of the shows about my concerns/issues. He said that he hears it all the time and it has to do with unbalanced pressurization of the room when it's a smaller room. The large rooms at shows don't have this issue.

I have not tried it yet, but he suggested I add a sub to the room connected in series from the amps to speakers (high output terminals). He specifically said not to pull the signal low level from the pre-amp. He said to put the sub behind the listening position in the back of the room to balance the pressure in the room, adjusting the output so its not even audible but enough to offset the main speakers output pressurization.

I'm away for a few days but when I get back, I'm definitely going to try it.

Thoughts?

I have also been advised by a room design guy to consider this:

http://www.bagend.com/products-category/active-bass-trap/

It's a Bagend active Base Trap.

"it looks like a small subwoofer without input termi- nals. Fore and aft are two small micro- phones; either one can supply the input to, effectively, two single-band paramet- ric filters (range 20–65Hz) that add tar- geted resonance peaks to the feedback circuitry that powers the driver. As a result, the input signal at those peaks is amplified and output via the 10” driver but, cleverly, opposite in phase to that of the input. Place the E-Trap in a high- pressure zone, such as the junction of two or three room boundaries, and its output will oppose and cancel the nodal energy in the room"

If the room is over pressurized, how does adding more pressure solve the problem? I'd look at taking the room out of the equation, as well as the crossovers. I have not ever heard box speakers sound good in a small room. Matt, try external crossovers - that will really open up your world of choices for time & phase coherent accuracy as you'd be doing it yourself. You need to take control, brother. This will consume you.

Not over-pressurized. Just pressure imbalance.

Don't know. But it's worth a try....

I don't have the fund of knowledge to start tuning my own external crossovers. But thanks for the complement and the idea.

Don't get me wrong guys. My room is awesome. But I have a few issues that, once under control, will really make that last little bit shine. Isn't that what we are all after, the last 1/10 of 1%?

Hmmm, "Fixing" acoustic anomalies by applying subwoofers out of phase to perform destructive low band-pass interference... Fascinating... Sounds like fighting a fire with... Well, fire.

Might work to a point. Yet, I am skeptical about the long term appeal of the end product... Seems a one-way route down an endless audiophrenic rabbit-hole.

G.

06-20-15: Mattnshilp
...he suggested I add a sub to the room connected in series from the amps to speakers (high output terminals). He specifically said not to pull the signal low level from the pre-amp. He said to put the sub behind the listening position in the back of the room to balance the pressure in the room, adjusting the output so its not even audible but enough to offset the main speakers output pressurization.

Matt,

As far as placing a sub in the rear of the room is concerned, it seems worth trying but the concern would be that arrival time differences at the listening position, between the mains and the sub, may compromise coherence unacceptably. And if you set the sub's volume low enough to prevent that, you may find that it is ineffective with respect to its intended purpose.

Also, regarding the reference to "series" connection (which strictly speaking is a misnomer, as from a technical standpoint the sub and mains would be connected in parallel): Assuming the amps are in the front of the room, as you most likely realize it would be best to connect the amps directly to the main speakers, and to run separate connections from either the main speakers or the amp to the sub. Also, as you probably realize, if the sub is a powered one the cables to it would not have to be heavy gauge (even 22 gauge or smaller would work fine) since powered subs have high input impedances (e.g. 10K or more), and hence draw very little current.

Regarding the BagEnd product, if you haven't already seen it you will want to check out Kal Rubinson's review. Also, you may want to look into the Spatial Black Hole. I have no experience with or particular knowledge of either product.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al